


say you want me

by cresswell



Category: The Naturals - Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Genre: Feelings Realization, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-18
Packaged: 2018-10-20 11:32:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10661703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cresswell/pseuds/cresswell
Summary: Dean is confused. “What could you possibly have to say to my father?”Michael glares at him. “Plenty.”(Written for the prompt "things you said when you met my parents".)





	say you want me

****It seems that no matter who the killer, Dean’s father is somehow inextricably involved. By now, Dean knows the route from the Naturals house to the prison by heart, and he’s sure the others could say the same.

So when Briggs says “It’s time to talk to Redding,” Dean’s not the least bit surprised.

The ride over to the prison is quiet. It’s early morning, and they’ve all been up all night looking over evidence and notes. Sloane and Camille are curled together in the backseat, their eyes closed. Cassie is chewing her nails. Lia is scrolling through Instagram, bleary-eyed. And Michael is next to Dean, his jaw tense.

Dean doesn’t know what that means. He imagines his father might trigger something in Michael, because they’re not that different. Dean’s father kills people; Michael’s abuses his son.

In all honesty, Dean thinks they’re equally terrible men.

They get the necessary clearance, and then everyone but Dean, Briggs, and Sterling file into the observance room. Michael hangs back a moment, and Sterling frowns. “Michael, are you okay?”

“Fine.” His jaw is still tensed, and he pauses for a moment. “I want to go in the interrogation room.”

Sterling blinks, showing a rare moment of surprise. “I don’t see why that’s necessary.”

“It’s necessary because I’m asking to go,” Michael says, a haughty lift to his chin. “Cassie’s gotten to go.”

“Dean’s dad is _obsessed_ with Cassie,” Briggs says dryly. “You’re of no interest to him.”

Dean can tell Michael’s reaching the edge of his patience, so he puts a hand on his shoulder and turns them both away from the adults. “What are you doing?”

Michael shrugs his hand off in irritation. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m asking to go in there with you.”

“ _Why?_ ”

The other boy looks at him, eyes blazing. “Because! Cassie’s gotten to go. She’s gotten to give him a piece of her mind. But I haven’t.”

Dean is confused. “What could you possibly have to say to my father?”

Michael glares at him. “Plenty.”

He pushes past Sterling and Briggs, charging into the interrogation room with Dean hot on his heels. “Michael--”

Michael rounds on Redding, leaning across the table. “You wanted Dean here, and now you’ve got him.” He levels Redding with a glare that Dean hadn’t previously thought him capable of, his jaw working. “But this will be the last time.”

Dean’s father smirks. “Is that so?”

Michael’s not budging. “Yes, it is so. You don’t get to fuck with him any longer. I’m fucking tired of sitting on the sidelines and watching it happen.” He leans in close, and if Redding was a weaker man, Dean thinks he’d flinch. “I don’t know why you do the things you do, and I don’t care enough to try and find out. But you keep Dean out of it.”

With a nastiness that seems extreme even for him, Redding says, “So _you’re_ my son’s bitch now, aren’t you?”

“It wouldn’t matter even if I was,” Michael snaps. “What matters is that Dean is nothing like you. Dean is the great man you could never have become.”

For a split second, Dean’s father seems almost stunned. But he snaps out of it a moment later, lunging at Michael in a very out-of-character fashion. Michael dodges it easily, and it dawns on Dean that he probably has practice dodging punches.

The thought makes him almost unbearably sad.

Sterling is on Redding in a second, slamming his head down against the metal tabletop. “You do _not touch him,”_ she snarls, her teeth bared. “If you touch him, I’ll cut your hands off.”

“I appreciate the offer, Sterling,” Michael says, “but I’m perfectly capable of disabling him on my own.”

To Dean’s shock, Sterling backs off.

“It’s okay,” Michael says, and now it’s his turn to smirk. “I think I’ve made my point.”

With that, he leaves the room, never pausing to look back.

* * *

“You’re fucking stupid, you know that?”

Dean isn’t expecting much of a reaction from Michael, so he’s not surprised when he doesn’t really get one. “I’m not stupid,” Michael replies. “Just a hothead.”

“I’m surprised you’ll admit it.” Dean cuffs his pants and sits down at the edge of the pool, dipping his feet in. His shoulder bumps against Michael’s. “You should’ve kept your mouth shut today.”

Michael whips his head around, giving Dean a glare. “I’ve kept my mouth shut for eighteen years, and I’m not going to do it anymore.” He looks down at the surface of the pool, swishing his legs through the water. “Besides, it never did me any good anyway.”

Dean stays quiet, unsure of what to say.

“But since I’m not going to keep my mouth shut anymore...” Michael trails off, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. It’s an expression Dean isn’t used to seeing on him. “You should know... I went in there for the same time Cassie went in there all those times.”

Dean blinks. “I don’t understand.”

Michael squares his shoulders. “I like you, okay? Like, honest to god, heart-skips-a-beat _like_ you.”

Dean feels his face start to burn, and he’s thankful the pool’s lights are dim so Michael can’t see it. “You-- _what?”_

Michael covers his face with his hands. “It’s stupid, I know. I tried not to like you. I really did. But even though I’m good at understanding other people’s emotions, I’ve never been any good at understanding mine. And I-- I like you.” He shrugs, finally looking at Dean. His eyes are impossibly wide and blue. “That’s all there is to it.”

Dean can’t remember the last time he saw Michael look vulnerable. Was it when Cassie was kidnapped that last time? Was it when Lia ran off and joined the cult? He can’t remember, because Michael _never_ lets himself look vulnerable. But here he is, his face open and honest and scared, knowing full well that Dean could rip his heart out with just a few words.

“Still, you didn’t have to confront my dad,” Dean hears himself say. “You could’ve gotten hurt.”

Michael rolls his eyes. “I’m not scared of him.”

“You should be.”

Michael goes very still. “Why do you care?”

Dean swallows. “Michael, you can read my emotions. You know exactly why I care.”

Michael just looks at him for a heavy moment, his lips parted like he’s been caught off guard, and then he leans in and Dean leans in and they meet perfectly in the middle, the pool water lapping gently at their ankles. Dean hasn’t kissed many people, but he knows that this kiss is something special. Michael is raw and splayed open, his mouth needy in a way that he never allows himself to be. He is all sharp edges, but his lips are soft and smooth, and he kisses Dean again, again, again. Dean feels lightheaded. He hears a heartbeat pounding in his ears and wonders if it’s his or Michael’s.

Dean pulls away, his forehead against Michael’s. “Don’t fuck with my dad, okay?” He says breathlessly. “He’s taken everything from me, and I don’t want him to take you too.”

“He can’t hurt me,” Michael says, pushing on Dean’s shoulders until he splays on his back on the grass. “And he can’t hurt you.”

He leans down, and Dean leans up, and they kiss again and again in the dark.


End file.
